One third of dementias may be preventable – hearing loss a significant risk

Hearing loss is a significant contributor to dementia, according to a new report which found that one third of dementia cases may be preventable, or could be delayed with appropriate lifestyle choices.

Results of the study suggest that around 35 per cent of dementia is attributable to nine risk factors: hearing loss, education to a maximum of age 11–12 years, midlife hypertension, midlife obesity, late-life depression, diabetes, physical inactivity, smoking, and social isolation.

These results mean that “Over one third of dementias are theoretically preventable – that’s huge,” the study’s lead, Professor Gill Livingstone said in a podcast discussing the study.

“These factors work on the brain, either by changing resilience – making people more or less liable to have a problem when the pathology occurs – or by having direct damage on the brain.”

Why Hearing Loss?

Hearing loss carried one of the most significant risks at 9 per cent, partly because it is so common – occurring in 32 per cent of people aged 55 years and older. Furthermore, only a minority of people with hearing loss are diagnosed or treated and even when they are, they often do not wear prescribed hearing aids.

So why does hearing loss increase the risk of dementia?

“Hearing loss might either add to the cognitive load of a vulnerable brain, leading to changes in the brain or lead to social disengagement or depression and accelerated atrophy, all of which could contribute to accelerated cognitive decline,” the report states.